Swedish 2003 Prospects: Dragan Umicevic

By pbadmin

June 16th, 2003

Umicevic is the no. 8 ranked prospect on the Swedish Prospects list. The ranking and the articles have been compiled by Johan Nilsson, Robert Blomdahl,Zoran Manojlovic, Anders Östberg and Mikael Hermansson.

History Umicevic has been among the very best players in the Swedish junior league fortwo seasons now. He displayed his exceptional talent for the first time duringthe 2001-02 season. In 36 games Södertälje’s young left wing putup impressive 20 goals and 31 assists. With his 51 points he was only one behindscoring leader Fredrik Hynning (AIK) who amassed 52 points.

This past season Umicevic had to settle being eighth in the scoring race with 19 goals, 14 assistsin 24 games. Part of the reason why he wasn’t ranked higher is the factthat he played several games with Södertälje’s senior team andtherefore wasn’t able to compete in all of the games in the junior league.Umicevic performed well in the SEL as well. With 2 goals and 3 assists in 22 gameshe wasn’t among the top rookies in the league but nonetheless had a solidfirst season with the big boys.Talent AnalysisUmicevic’s upside is huge. He possesses a lot of raw skill. First of allUmicevic is a strong skater. His top speed is perhaps not spectacular but he accelerateswell. Umicevic can also be a magician with the puck. His technical skills areextraordinary and he is among those players that you can always expect an unpredictablemove from.When it comes to scoring he is basically just as good at delivering the puck asactually finishing a play.The physical aspect of his game could use some improvement, especially in viewof the fact that his game includes speed and creativity. With greater strengthhe’ll be even tougher to stop.Umicevic is a natural talent and if he only works hard and has his mind set he’llbecome an elite player.

Draft ProjectionThe fact that Umicevic has already seen quality ice time in the SEL has increasedhis stock. He has proven that he handles the play in the elite league fairly welland has the skills to become an offensive force. If Umicevic is still availablein the fourth or fifth round there are probably a lot of teams who will be willingto pick him.

Next SeasonThere are currently 12 forwards in Södertälje and barring new signingsit means that Umicevic will likely see quite a bit of ice-time in the SEL, ifnot on the third line then certainly on the fourth. There are some young playersthat Umicevic will compete with for ice-time, namely Bobbie Hagelin and Slovakianplayer Stanislav Valach. Umicevic has however already played a season in the SELunlike the other two and has therefore an obvious advantage.

NHL FutureUmicevic is by no means ready to step in right away but he is still perhaps moreready than most of the Swedish prospects. He is also among the oldest that areeligible to get drafted (being an 84, while most are born 85). If Umicevic breaks through this season, which is not totally out of reach, he could be readyfor the NHL in two years.